What your Chickens NEED for winter

Winter...over here in the Land of Pleasant Living, winter is a mixed bag of bipolar weather. It can be a beautiful 60-70F/15-21C  or it can be a Polar Vortex of weather in single digits with 6 feet of snow on the ground. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy aspects of winter, but mostly it's depressing and gray.

This will be my first winter with chickens. I have done a lot research on HOW to winterize my coop and prepare. I'll share what I know and what I will do. I will update as things seem easier or if I think I need to change to deal with an issue.

Coop

Oh the coop. In summer, we want all the ventilation. In winter we still need ventilation, but drafts are an issue. Ventilation allows for ammonia and moisture to escape. Usually this is located in the upper parts of your coop. Drafts are usually found lower on the floor and can move the belly feathers of our chickens. This can make them very sick and prone to respiratory infections. 

Here is a video that's helpful for looking for drafts. I'm lucky my coop doesn't have many and that I can use sand to block them up.

An acrylic sheet covers our windows

Our windows will be covered with plastic acrylic sheets ( but we have holes in it at the top for ventilation). This will allow for the moisture and ammonia from the poop to exit the coop without taking away too much heat. The acrylic is clear so it will allow light to come into the coop and give a gentle warming effect. If you see moisture on your windows, then you don't have enough ventilation in your coop. Moisture and drafts are the enemy. Moisture causes frostbite! (Check out this resource for more information about frostbite)You don't want your roosts too close to the windows. That temperature shift can hurt them while sleeping. 

Really quick while it's on your mind...roosts. Chickens like FLAT roosts, not round. A 2x4 that is flat with the 4" side up is a great roost for them. The flat roosts allow them to fully cover their feet while sleeping. It can help protect the feet from frostbite. 

Radiant Heater

Heater. It's very strange in my state. Some winters it's in the single digits or below. Some winters are very mild and pleasant. However, I think this year we might be in for snow, because 2020. Sometimes it's a dusting...sometimes it's Snowmagedon with 6-8 feet of snow. We never know what we're in for. The heater is for if the girls get wet. Wet birds are more likely to get sick and die. Remember moister is the enemy. A wet bird will bring that into your coop. You want that to evaporate as quickly as possible. The heater I bought was from Tractor Supply. It's a radiant heater/brooder combo. You don't want the coop to be too warm. Your birds will need to acclimate to the cooler weather. A heater and keeping the coop a cozy 60F/15C when it's in the 20F/-6C outside is not a good idea. You'll have birds staying in the coop and pooping in the coop. Not only do you have to worry about the ammonia fumes, but they aren't eating and calories are needed in winter. 

Nest Box

We are putting up nest box curtains. This will keep drafts out of the nest box while the girls are laying. It will allow to keep the heat a bit more regular as well. The nest box on our coop sticks out away from it and has about a foot of clearance from the ground. Pretty soon I will go in and fill in any cracks with some caulk. There are a few since I can see the light coming through. 

The Run

The run should be covered with a roof. This prevents snow and freezing rain to get onto the birds. Freezing rain can kill a chicken, so beware of this. The food should be in your run (NOT YOUR COOP unless you want rodents, because that's how you get rodents). The waterer should be in your run. You don't want moisture in your coop. Now...I don't know how many of you have hauled frozen buckets before. I used to break horses and caring for them in winter was a bear. Frozen water buckets weigh a ton and are just awful to deal with. Get a heated waterer. Some waterers are better than others. I know the little cups freeze. Nipple drinkers are great, but can freeze unless heated. We have a Premier 1 Poultry Nipple Drinker. It's heated. That was my first requirement for the girls. It's not cheap, but I HATE frozen buckets. It's nice in the summer too because the insulation helps keep the water cool.  We will be wrapping part of the run with a tarp if it gets cold and windy. Painters plastic works as well. Breaking the wind is a good idea because it will mess with how the chickens fluff themselves to trap warm air in their feathers. 

As winter approaches I will update what I do. We had a day that was 80F/26C. It was so hot and uncomfortable that we had to remove a lot of our winterization items. I will also update you as we find other things that work!

Broody Chickens

I had someone ask me questions on Instagram about topics to write about. One of the topics was broodiness in a flock without a rooster. I thought to myself oh my, we don't have breeds that typically go broody...except Luna. Luna is a Copper Marans x Cream Legbar. Marans are known for being broody and Legbars are not. Little did I know that Artemis, my sweet and cheerful Cream Legbar, would be the first hen to go broody in my flock.

I found Artemis to be broody when collecting eggs. She got all spikey and GROWLED at me. For those of you who have followed us for awhile, you have seen me rock Artemis to sleep. Growling is the last thing she would normally do. I had to go to my second job, but when the Bearded Claw came home he checked on her. She did the same thing to him. Hours later, I came home from work and set up the breaker.

Update: We were able to break Artemis in 3 days. It was easy to see that she wasn't ready because of the noises she was making. She was also not behaving like her sweet self. Having Artemis growl at me wasn't normal for her. I did floof her breast feathers a bit just to put cooler air under her. She did come round quick. Since we broke her, she hasn't laid eggs, but this is normal. She should return to laying once her hormones regulate themselves.

Artemis, the Cream Legbar is broody

Ever since I knew getting chickens was a reality, I researched everything I could. I would pour over books and forums trying to absorb as much as possible. There is SO MUCH GARBAGE OUT THERE! I found the blog of the Chicken Chick. I liked her no nonsense approach. To me, she is very practical. I will tell you about her method in a minute. She was part of why I was inspired to create this blog. I wanted to give advice based on what we have at the moment and could be used by people around the world, not just America. 

So onto the Broody Hen...

What NOT to do

Artemis is an angry, puffy pancake

Broodiness is created by hormones. It's baby fever so to speak. All that is on a broody hen's mind is to hatch eggs. A broody hen will sit...and sit...and sit. This means that she is not eating or drinking like she should. She will only get up to grab a quick drink, a small bite to eat, and to poop. This is like once a day. A broody hen can lose up to 20% of their body weight. It's not healthy and it's super hard on their bodies. They are susceptible to parasites, infections, and illness in their weakened state. THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS LET A BROODY HEN SIT WITH NO CHANCE OF HATCHING EGGS!

Don't chase her out of the nest box. She will go back. Baby fever causes one track minds! It will stress your bird even more.

Don't dunk her in cold water. Don't stick frozen things under her. Chickens' bodies are 105-107F (40.6-41.7 C). How cruel is that?

What you can do

If you do decide to let your broody hatch eggs, label the eggs so you know how long they've been under her. 21 days is the period it takes to hatch an egg, don't let her sit too much longer than that. REMEMBER HOW STRESSFUL THIS IS ON THEIR BODIES.

You can graft day old chicks to the broody. What this means is that you will slip baby chicks under her while she's sleeping so she thinks she hatched her eggs. This doesn't always work. We know many that want to be mothers, and aren't cut out for it. Be prepared to raise the chicks yourself if the broody attacks or abandons the chicks. You will have to use day old chicks, broody hens won't always accept slightly older ones.

The Broody Breaker Method and what we are trying

The Chicken Chick recommends immediately breaking up a broody hen if hatching eggs isn't going to happen. She recommends placing the broody hen in a dog kennel or rabbit hutch with a wire bottom floor to allow the hen to cool her brood patch. This is called the Broody Breaker.

Artemis and Luna in Club Med: Broody Breaker

I don't have a rabbit hutch or dog crate with a wire bottom. I have my med tent. It's a foldable dog kennel that I have for emergencies. 

I brought Artemis in last night in the dark. I put her in the med tent with Luna. I was worried about reintegration later and stressing her more by being alone. There is a perch, food, and water. They are in my office and I am going in and out of the room on a regular basis and I have left the lights on in the room. I can tell Artemis is still broody this morning, she's doing that weird growl and puffing up still. It's cute to see her temper tantrum. I'm hoping to put her back in the flock in a day or so. We will see. I will update as this unfolds!

Update: We were able to break Artemis in 3 days. It was easy to see that she wasn't ready because of the noises she was making. She was also not behaving like her sweet self. Having Artemis growl at me wasn't normal for her. I did floof her breast feathers a bit just to put cooler air under her. She did come round quick. Since we broke her, she hasn't laid eggs, but this is normal. She should return to laying once her hormones regulate themselves.

To read about the Chicken Chick's Method: https://the-chicken-chick.com/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch/

Sources: Backyard Chickens Forum, The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow, The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens by Kathy Shea Mormino , Google....and I don't want to credit the websites who are giving that terrible advice...just know that there's a lot of nonsense to sift through.

Determined to stop being broody

What your Chickens NEED for Summer

When setting out to create this blog, I wanted to make sure that we weren't just talking about America. (We're very ego centric over here.)

Right now the Northern Hemisphere is making its change to winter and the Southern Hemisphere is making its change to spring. We all learned this in primary school. Here are some tips and suggestions for both seasons. I will start with summer since we just came from that.

Summer with Chickens

It's so exciting, the weather is always something to look forward to after months of winter. Your chickens may not be looking forward to the heat. A chicken's core body temperature runs between 105-107F /40.5-41.6 C. Add in the fact they are wearing a fluffy, down duvet cover and it's going to be an uncomfortable time for them. We haven't even factored in the humidity levels of places yet. 

Water

Princess Leia grabs a drink of cool water

The best way to combat the heat is to have water available everywhere. You have to be careful though, if the water gets close to a chicken's body temperature, they will refuse to drink. Keeping water in shady areas so they don't need to hunt for it is the way to go. I had several drinkers throughout where the girls would stay during the day. Many of them I would freeze overnight so there would be ice water in the morning. I took plastic bottles and jugs and froze them. Then I stuck the frozen bottles in the drinkers.

Let's talk electrolytes. Yes they are important. Should you be giving these to your birds though? If the day was in the 100's/40's I would give them one drinker with electrolytes and the rest fresh water. I only did this if they were panting and had their wings drawn away from their sides. Sometimes electrolytes change the taste of the water. Chickens don't have many taste buds, but the water stays on their taste buds longer than food. I've seen chickens refuse to drink water that has electrolytes. The other thing is people don't give their birds enough credit. They know what they need. Giving them the only choice of electrolytes to drink can lead to an imbalance and let's face it...your birds are already stressed!

Food

Summer is not the time to do strange things with a chicken's diet. Calories are a measurement of energy. In this case, the energy causes heat. You might start to notice your chickens are eating less and not moving around as much. Neither would you if you were in 100F/37C weather in a giant coat that you can't take off. Adding extras like watermelon or fruits, while helpful can cause big issues if over done. I personally have frozen blueberries and put those in water. It forces the girls to drink, they are able to drink cool water, and the berries soak up extra water. However, I don't really want them eating extras in the summer because of calories burning up. I have also put ice in the water. They enjoyed playing and drinking the ice water. But again, you don't want them doing too much. I see the frozen trays with corn and things like that. A chicken's beak is sensitive and banging it around on the ice doesn't seem like it would feel great. Plus it burns calories.

Eggs

I haven't had much experience with eggs being laid in the heat. My gals started laying in August and while it's hot here in the Land of Pleasant Living, it's not as hot as July. Egg production will suffer during the heat. You will see it all. Rubber eggs, thin shells, shell-less eggs, or no eggs at all. Hens will be focused on dealing with surviving the heat, not reproducing (again calories burning!). Consider adding a bit of baking soda to your water (1/4c to every gallon). It will help with the electrolyte loss and it will help with replacing the calcium that is being lost or not ingested due to the heat. Again, make sure there are fresh, clean, and cool water options also available. Keep their diet as close to normal as possible. 

Poop💩

Poop...it's everywhere. We know this as chicken tenders. However, there is normal poop, and there is the watery heat created poops. A chicken will poop out what almost looks like diarrhea when hot. This is a cooling method called excretory heat transfer/loss. This is a good thing. One it means they are drinking water. Two, it means they are trying to cool themselves. You should be looking at your chickens' poop and know the difference between a healthy poo and an unhealthy one. However, if you see them pooping even more frequently and it's watery...they're cooling themselves and are drinking lots of water. 

What to do in an emergency

Most of us do not have access to a vet. When a chicken is in heat distress you might not have time on your side. Please do not cool them down too quickly. They are just like people in that respect. I kept an emergency bucket under a tree in the shade for emergencies. The water wasn't hot and it wasn't cold, lukewarm/tepid. If I saw my girls panting, wings held away from their body, and a weird comb/wattle color, they would get a dip in the pool. I would hold them with their feet in the water. Their feet are a cooling area and cooling those help cool the bird. If it had been severe, I would've dunked them in the bucket up to their neck. Thank goodness I didn't have to do that. Having a place for chickens to walk through water is always a welcome respite from the heat. Many chickens HATE water (unless it's raining and then good luck keeping them dry🙄 ) and will not willingly go into a wading pool. You can use a mister, but if you're like us, it doesn't help in the humid summer we experience. 

Coop Prep

You want all the ventilation. ALL OF IT. Put windows on all sides of your coop and have them wide open. There were days where the heat index was around 105 F/40 C. We had several fans going, the coop was completely open, nest box was propped open, doors open, and I even took the back off the coop and put up hardware cloth. We would hose down the roof of the coop when it was 110 F/43 C inside. We put up tarps to shade the coop (and will use them in the winter to wrap parts of it). Use sand for your litter. It will keep the stink down, absorb the moisture from the wet poop, and it actually acts as a cooling agent in the summer. Keep your fans running at night by your chickens. In winter drafts are an issue. In summer, that's not a bad thing to have in your coop. The airflow will help them when they are sleeping and unable to drink water. 

Place a thermometer in the the coop so you know what the temperature is inside!

The back wall comes off our coop and now has a giant flap window and a fan attached to the wall

Hopefully you have found this to be practical and useful information! I have done my research by reading books by Gail Damerow, Kathy Shea Mormino, and from just my own experience. 

I will cover how to deal with winter in my next post and how to winterize your coop.

Welcome to the Covid Cluckers

 Welcome to our blog! We are the Covid Cluckers. We are chickens being raised in the times of Covid-19. 

Our owners purchased us before the mandatory stay at home orders occurred. They were worried about a viable food source since grocery stores were empty. The overreaction of so many people are the reason we came to be. What our owners didn't realize, was that we were more than a food source. We have helped them every day since our arrival. 

Our owners have worked very hard to research all things chicken. They will be sharing practical tips for raising chickens and just humorous stories of us in general. We want to help you sort through all the garbage advice out there. We know so many of these blogs give random and sometimes cruel advice that is harmful to your flock. We want to make sure that we are inclusive of other countries and their resources besides America. 

Many of you are here from Instagram. We refer to our owners as The Claw and The Bearded Claw.  When we were in the brooder, all we saw coming for us was a claw. That's it. No fancy story, just the Claw. 

Because we don't have thumbs or any way of actually typing (we have tried!) The Claw will be documenting our journey and any tips we find along the way.  Hopefully, you will find what we have to offer useful. 

Enjoy our blog!

The Covid Cluckers and Claws